Walking in Three Rivers

Walking isn’t as easy as it used to be. I walk shorter distances more slowly than I used to, wearing Crocs instead of these shoes, which I now have listed on eBay.

Until the time change, my friend and I walked in the dark. Sometimes it felt adventuresome, as if we were getting away with something. On the days when her schedule isn’t tight, we still go 4-5 miles, although that’s nothing compared to when we trained together for a 1/2-marathon. Still, we are happy that we can walk and can do so in places without traffic, traffic lights, or sidewalks.

In the predawn light
During daylight hours
In the predawn light
During daylight hours

One day recently, Trail Guy and I poked along our street where he pointed out a peculiar sight on our neighbor’s lot.

Not real, mighty peculiar, and completely without an explanation.

I found a small sparkly on the ground, which I ended up securing to the fence of the former day care at the Presbyterian Church.

While admiring the view from the Catholic church, I wondered what the bright red was in the distance. It most likely is a truly spectacularly bright tree. We weren’t so fortunate when we chose our own Chinese Pistache trees, nor when they created volunteers on our lot.

I’ve always admired this barn across the highway, and being November, I also admired some red trees in the distance.

Walking more slowly and going shorter distances does increase one’s awareness of the surroundings. That is a good trait for an artist to cultivate.

P.S. Yeppers, two churches in our neighborhood, neither one “ours”.

SIMPLY HOME

Walnut Orchard, 10×10″, $200

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. It is full.

Hard Drawing and Painting Hard

Last week I did some sketching and designing for a very difficult pencil commission. It is breaking a hard and fast rule that I have set for myself, but I can’t figure out how to say no and still help the customer. It’s too scary to show you right now. . . more will be revealed. . .

Then I painted hard. How hard?

I painted so hard that my brush snapped. That’s a first for me in 18 years of painting.

These two paintings got moved into the house near the wood stove to dry. There’s more to be done on both, but I am spending my week working on my presentation for How To Draw.

IMPORTANT

Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited and there is one more spot.

SIMPLY HOME

Olive Orchard, 10×10″, $200

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

A Day Without the Internet

Last week was a rough one for tech. My blog croaked, which led me to realize that my entire website was AWOL. This led to many phone calls, and a large expenditure. Then, when I had things working again, thanks to Rowland, Mario, Eva, and Ken Joe Sam (Really? No, really??), we had a day without internet, cell service, telephone, or teevee. (I didn’t miss that last thing.)

So, I painted, after spending a bit of time in the studio making plans and taking care of administrative tasks. Those necessary parts of an art business are too boring to tell you about.)

Mr. Antisocial Jackson was suddenly interested in everything I was working on.

This painting is either 11×14 or 12×16, but I don’t remember. I am painting it so that if someone needs to take a painting from Simply Home, I will be able to put something in the hole.

Tucker took a break with me.

This lighthouse painting, done mostly plein air, still needed to be finished in the painting workshop. (I draw in my studio and paint in the workshop, because painting can get messy.)

It will look better when it is scanned. This was photographed with my inferior phone camera. And as always, it will look better in person.

Pippin was happy to sit behind me while I painted.

REMINDER: Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited.

SIMPLY HOME

Homer Barn, 12×16″, SOLD

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Three Finished, Two Begun

These three turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself, which I just did.

Tom-ato’s Last Mater, 6×6″, private collection
Lemons on the Tree, 6×6″, $65, oil on wrapped canvas
Pomegranate on the Tree, 6×6″, oil on wrapped canvas, $65

Don’t be scared; these will also turn out well.

Simply Home

Ed’s Herd, 11×14, oil on wrapped canvas, $300 (This is the only painting that comes from outside Tulare County, but since I met Ed in Tulare County, this qualifies.)

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

How To Draw, Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, at CACHE, 125 S. B Street, Exeter. Admission is FREE, but seating is limited, so email me cabinart@cabinartdotnet (do it the real way, not this bizarre spelling designed to thwart spammers).

Painting in the Workshop

Most artists paint in their studios. I reserve my studio for drawing and business-ish activities and do my painting in the building next door, a workshop. This is because painting is messier than drawing.

I started with the commissioned piece which is now called Tom-ato’s Last Mater. A man named Tom was known for growing heirloom tomatoes, and this 1-1/2 lb. specimen was the last one he produced before succumbing to a terrible disease. His wife asked me to paint it for her, and I gladly complied.

Next I decided to make a couple of small 6×6″ fruit-on-the-tree paintings for the Mural Gallery, which has reopened in Exeter after a summer of revamping, refurbishing, and redesigning. Things have changed since it opened 20+ years ago. Back then, it was called the “Mural Gallery” because only Exeter’s muralists could show and sell there. Now we are old (and some have died), so it has opened up to other artists in the area. In addition, the artists who show and sell there have been asked to work one shift a month. (I had mine on October 24 last month.)

The shapes and backgrounds went quickly on these, and I saved the details for another day.

After hanging these on the pegboard hooks to dry a bit, I looked out the window at the studio garden and saw these marauders destroying the foliage. Welcome to Three Rivers, where gardening is war.

At least I have something completed and not destroyed to show for an afternoon’s work in the painting workshop. Yes, I signed it and painted the edges red, so it just needs to dry before getting scanned and then shipped to Florida.

SIMPLY HOME

Cabin Dishes, 8×10″, $200 (Yes, oil on wrapped canvas, and yes, there is sales tax.)

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

SOMETHING IMPORTANT: Tuesday, November 12, 6:30-7:30, I will give a demo/talk called How To Draw at CACHE. Contact me if you are interested, because seating is limited.

Plein Air or Studio?

This is Asilomar State Beach, the first place I set up an easel to paint plein air, which means feet in the sand, wind in my hair, hair in my eyes, and easel fighting gravity.

This is my painting of Asilomar Beach, brought into submission in the confines of my painting workshop (i.e. studio).

This is Carmel Beach, voted the most beautiful beach in California or the US or ???, as first painted while sitting on a park bench, balancing a pochade box on my lap with my palette of paints on the bench beside, all the while wishing I was down on the sand with my feet in the water, minus the painting.

This is my painting of Carmel Beach, brought into submission in the painting workshop, with the able assistance of some photos where things hold still for a pair of minutes and color can be actually seen rather than squinted and guessed at in the bright sun (or deep shade)

But I’m perfectly neutral on the topic, as you can see.

P.S. At the opening reception of my show Simply Home, an acquaintance of many years said to me, “I’m going to tell you something that will make you mad.” Then he proceeded to say, “You draw better than you paint.”

What would he have said if he’d seen my plein air paintings before I retouched them??

Simply Home

Lemon Cove Oranges, 16×16″, SOLD

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

P.S. This painting is the one chosen for the publicity for the show. Yes, it is oil on wrapped canvas, but I’m tired of typing that and fairly certain that you are tired of reading it too.

Before the Solo Show “Simply Home”

Today’s post is a bit behind reality, a peek into what happened before the show was hung or opened.

When I got home from Monterey, I had to dive into getting all my work together to deliver to CACHE, the gallery hosting my solo show, “Simply Home”.

Photo by Liesel Lund, my roomie

More than anything, I wanted to detail and finish those 10 plein air beachy paintings. Alas, even when one is a certified grown-up, one does not get to do just what one wants to do. Part of being a real grown-up is being trustworthy, responsible, and following through.

Phooey. So, I boxed up everything, and with Trail Guy’s master’s degree in packanology, we loaded the good pick-em-up truck, and delivered it all to Exeter.

When we got home, I faced some unfinished canvases.

First, there is the fact that Kaweah Arts has sold out of the tall paintings of sequoias and has been waiting for at least one for several weeks. This still is not quite finished here because it needs a signature, the edges painted, to dry, and then it needs to be scanned.

Another painting has been on hold for awhile. Initially I was going to push to get it done for Simply Home, until I realized that if a customer insists on taking home a purchase, I’d better have something ready to plug into that hole.

I started this painting in June.

It seemed daunting until I mixed up the colors and realized that I can DRAW with my paintbrush, using PHOTOS instead of standing outside wishing that the water would just hold still for a pair of minutes.

Yes indeedy, I am a studio painter and probably always will be.

Simply Home

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Groves, Hills and Mountains, oil on wrapped canvas, 10×20″, $450

Plein Air Painting in Monterey: One Last Peek

Among the 100 or so folks in Monterey at Fall Color Week, there were fantastic painters along with rank amateurs: my work fell solidly in the middle. I am a studio painter, and this whole thing stretched me. I could go on and on about what I learned, but I suspect that if you are not an artist, it will cause you to click off this page, maybe (horrors!) even unsubscribe (but ask me privately if you have questions about the value of plein air painting).

Liesel Lund painted this AND sold it while at the retreat.
Bill Davidson is kind of a big deal painter in the area and served as our guide to good places to paint. I think he offered this painting to us at a discounted price of $1000.
Pauline Roche was one of the first people I met while standing in line at registration. She painted this on the day I skipped out on Fisherman’s Wharf. She truly understands accuracy in architectural subjects, and I wish I had seen this view. Alas,I was trying to find a tripod for a borrowed pochade box that morning.
Wendy Ahlm was my favorite artist there. She had two different buyers vying for this painting while it was still wet. This is her website.
I forgot who did this. It is the view I wished I could get.
Pam Newell’s rocks blew us all away with admiration.
Wendy Ahlm did this on the first day when most of us were riding the Struggle Bus.

And then there are my paintings. I did 10 total, but only showed 8 of them in the room where we placed them each evening.

And thus we conclude our long series of blog posts “Plein Air Painting in Monterey”.

Now we can return to our regular blogging topics, and maybe I’ll actually finish some of these paintings to where I might confidently put them up for sale.

Simply Home

Here is today’s painting, done in the studio (because I was NOT going to carry my bad easel 4 miles), for Simply Home, a solo show at CACHE.

Salt Creek Falls, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $650

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00. 125 South B Street, Exeter, California

Plein Air Painting in Monterey: Sunset and Sundries

Although I am still going on and on about the week of plein air painting in Monterey, now that Simply Home has opened, I will show a painting from the show each day until I either run out of paintings or run out of days.

Each evening I ate dinner quickly, grabbed a to-go cup of decaf coffee, and scooted down to the beach for a little time before our evening gathering sessions. Everyone loves sunset at the beach in California, but most people stayed at the tables conversing and having dessert. It was just too loud in there for me, and the beach was calling.

I never did see the green flash because the sky was never clear in the west. Besides, I’ve never seen the green flash and wonder if it really exists or if it is like Sasquatch.

These photos are beautiful, but in Plein Air World, it is VERY BAD to paint from photos. You may use them for reference, but if you aren’t painting on location, your paintings will be SUBSTANDARD. So there.

(Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it, eh?)

There were a few oddities that caught my eye throughout the week. (I used “sundries” in the title because of the alliteration.)

This car was parked near me when I sat on a wall painting. A very dressed up young woman appeared briefly, but I was too engrossed in my work to figure it out. Probably engagement photos.

This was behind the counter where we got our meals.

Yeppers, me too.

This house was next to the building where we had our Rah-rah sessions, and one evening it was lit up like this. Too bad about the car in front. I could paint it; our Fearless Leader told us to only paint houses when there are clearly cars there to indicate that the owner is home, because then you are likely to sell the painting! I was too busy to stand around painting houses.

Simply Home

Here is painting #1 from Simply Home.

Sunset Over the Kaweah, 16×20″, oil on wrapped canvas, $650

CACHE Gallery hours are Fridays 1:30-4:00, Saturdays 10:00-4:00, Sundays noon-4:00.

Plein Air Painting in Monterey: Friends

As we spent time painting or at meals or meetings, we gradually got to know one another and learn names, although there was a lot of name-tag reading all week long. I met John Lynch of Toronto on the first day, so his name got cemented into my overloaded memory.

John spent several mornings working on the same painting. The last morning, I almost shouted, “YOU NAILED IT!”, but I managed to keep my voice down, and he graciously talked to me about the importance of plein air painting. I wish I had recorded his wisdom.

John Lynch’s morning painting. I think this is his website, but I am not sure because he isn’t wearing the Fall Color Week hat in the photo here. He was very skilled, kind, and knowledgeable.

Liesel, my Roomie, cranked this out in one manic session. It sold immediately, and she will be making prints. Here is her website: Liesel Lund Fine Art She is a terrific painter who approaches art entirely differently from me, absolutely committed to making “joyful impressionist” work, which fits with her joyful personality. This is my favorite of her paintings, and although I hinted outright, she didn’t turn it into a roommate gift. (We are exchanging calendars of our work for 2025.)

Eric Rhoads, our fearless leader, is possibly the highest energy, most positive can-do (and does it all) man I’ve ever met. He is the publisher of Plein Air and Fine Art Connoisseur magazines, a producer of how-to painting videos, author of an art business book (out of print), organizer of plein air expos and retreats, and those are only the things that I remember off the top of my head.

Eric was Our Mighty Enthusiastic Fearless Leader and Charlotte became my hero by saving my week with the loan of her extra pochade box.

I met another Jana, whose last name I never learned. She noticed my name tag and introduced herself on Day 5. We were just tickled to run into someone else with the same not-so-usual name, but I never saw her again. Her husband was there to film an instructional video for Streamline Publishing, and I only got his first name of “Frank”.

This is me with Roomie on the last day when we were so happy to have been together for a week.

Simply Home

And one more reminder of Saturday’s show opening: